The Department of Justice is poised to make a grave mistake: dismantling its tax division, America’s frontline defense against ultra-wealthy tax cheats.

As sophisticated tax fraud surges, gutting this division would severely weaken enforcement and deterrence, inviting more evasion by the ultra-wealthy. It would send a message to those at the top: complex evasion schemes will go unpunished.

Tax enforcement in the U.S. is already on life support, with tax evasion costing U.S. taxpayers approximately $447 billion each year, a figure that dwarfs popular claims of government waste. Yet fraud prosecutions haven’t just declined over the last decade; they’ve collapsed, dropping nearly 50 percent between 2014 and 2023. Shockingly few big-time tax evaders face justice, with only 363 individuals convicted of criminal tax fraud in 2023. As one IRS investigator candidly told us, “There’s never been a better time to commit tax fraud.” Without a Department of Justice tax division, that is bound to get much worse.

The stakes........

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